Read Hebrews 11:1-3 How many have ever visited a chiropractor? I have. For many they provide relief from neck, back, and hip pain. The concept is simple when the spine is in alignment, the nerves will not be pinched causing pain. Proper alignment will also allow proper blood flow which will allow healing. That is our word for today: alignment. It’s vital to be in proper alignment with faith; what it is, but, more importantly, what it is not. I want us to look at Hebrews 11:1-3 to help with our Faith Alignment. Our passage today is not a definition but a description of what faith does and how it operates. I believe it is in the description we get a definition. Let’s start with what faith is not. It is not a blind optimism. It is not a manufactured “hope so” feeling and it is not believing in spite of evidence (that’s superstition). Now what it is: True Biblical faith is confident obedience to God’s word in spite of circumstances and consequences. I want to look at three words in verses 1 and 2 to better focus our understanding of faith. They are substance, evidence, and witness. The word confidence in verse 1 can also be translated as substance which mean to stand under, to support. This word substance gives us an accurate picture of faith. Faith is to the Christian what the foundation is to a house. Secondly, evidence means conviction. This the inward conviction from God that what he has promised he has performed. We have the opportunity to recount God’s faithfulness which only strengthens that inward conviction. Lastly, the third word is found in verse 2 and it is witness. In court a witness backs up the claim made by one of the lawyers. They validate the truth of what was claimed. This what faith does for the believer, it backs up the claim made by God. This word is used to describe faith throughout chapter 11: vs 2, twice in vs.4, vs.5, and vs 39. Finally in verse 3, we are told some things about faith. Faith enables us to understand what God does. It enables us to see what others cannot see and it it enables us to do what others cannot do. This is faith’s purpose: to Honor God; and this description does just that. It takes our focus from us and places it on God, on what he does for us. Reflect I would like for us to reflect today on a quote from Dr. J. Oswald Sanders, “Faith enables the believer to treat the future as present and the invisible as seen”. Think on this truth and the power it brings into our lives. Pray As you pray ask God to build up faith in your life. Ask Him to show his faithfulness in your life. Ask Him to use His word to show other instances where He was faithful. Ask Him to daily bring this truth to your mind. // TWO-A-DAYS // GO A LITTLE FARTHER WITH YOUR DAILY DEVOTIONS // Go through these questions with your spouse, kids, or friend, or you can even journal about the answers to these questions:
- What was the best part of your day?
- What was the toughest part of your day?
- Where did you mess up today?
- Where did you see God today?
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